NXT UK’s Jinny explains decision to retire, if she plans to stay in the business

Last month, former NXT UK standout (and before that, a standout on the British & European independent scenes) Jinny announced her retirement.

She’d been sidelined even before WWE put their London-based developmental show on hiatus, and in a new interview with Ring The Belle, Jinny talked about the injury which caused her to decide to hang up her wrestling boots:

“So when I was injured, this was actually the longest time that I had been out with any injury. During the time of being injured and having the symptoms, I was just like, ‘Wow, this is just taking so long for my body to heal.’

“The injury that I actually had, it was a concussion. Unfortunately, I took quite a few blows to the head, and it was the worst one I ever had. Halfway through, I was like, ‘If my body is taking this long to heal, if I get hit again, is it going to take even longer?’ I just had to be smart about it.

“I love wrestling. I’m a wrestling fan, I always will be. It was a really hard decision because if it wasn’t for that, would I be wrestling still? Yes. But your health is wealth. And as difficult as it is, and as much as I love this business and as much as I was like, ‘maybe I’ll be okay,’ I had to be smart about it and make sure that I look after myself, not just for now, but in the long run as well.”

The Fashionista said she is currently cleared to compete, but is focused on life after wrestling. Asked if she’d consider a retirement match, Jinny said:

“Right now, I don’t know. I don’t want to take a chance and then get hurt, but never say never. You never know what’s around the corner. But right now, I just need to focus on my health, even though I’m healed and I’m fine and I’m cleared and everything. Right now I just need to focus on health-wise, but never say never. But would I fully come out of retirement and have like another stint? No. I don’t want to take that chance. And it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.

“When we get into this business, whether you sign with a big company or you work on the Indies, we all know the risks that we take. But we take those risks because we have a dream and we have a passion for wrestling. It happens, but looking back on everything, I had so much fun, I really did. And I’m very, very grateful for everything I’ve come out of wrestling. I met my husband [WWE Intercontinental champion Gunther] in wrestling. I met some great friends in wrestling. I got to work with some amazing people.

“And all of those companies like PROGRESS, Eve, RevPro, OTT, and all of that — they gave me opportunities when I was so new and they still believed in me. When I was experimenting with my ring gear, trying to work on the basics in the ring and still training and stuff, they still gave me an opportunity. Yes, it would always be nice to come out of retirement and achieve more, but looking back, I achieved so much and I’m very, very grateful.”

Before her retirement announcement, fans were speculating/hoping she could find her way onto NXT Prime, Raw or SmackDown in a non-wrestling role. It seems the door is open for something like that in the future, but it’s not her current focus:

“Right now, I’m just coming to terms with the retirement. I left on very good terms. They were very good to me when I said I needed to step away from the ring. Who knows what is down the road. Right now, I just retired and I need to gather my bearings. There are always opportunities and stuff like that, who knows, I might be on a TV screen in a year’s time. The world is your oyster, you just have to run with opportunities when given to you.”

You can watch to Jinny’s entire Ring The Belle interview here.